SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE
The present disclosure relates to a solid-state imaging device capable of further decreasing reflectivity, a method of manufacturing the same, and an electronic device. The solid-state imaging device includes a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels, and an antireflection structure provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on the semiconductor substrate in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed. The antireflection structure is formed by performing processing of digging a light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate in a plurality of stages with different processing conditions. The antireflection structure is the structure in which a second projection lower than a first projection is formed between the first projections of predetermined height. The present technology may be applied to a CMOS image sensor, for example.
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The present disclosure relates to a solid-state imaging device, a method of manufacturing the same, and an electronic device, and especially relates to the solid-state imaging device capable of further decreasing reflectivity, the method of manufacturing the same, and the electronic device.
BACKGROUND ARTConventionally, a solid-state image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD)/complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor is used, for example, in an electronic device having an imaging function such as a digital still camera and a digital video camera.
For example, incident light incident on the CMOS image sensor is subjected to photoelectric conversion by a photodiode (PD) being a photoelectric converting unit included in a pixel. Then, an electric charge generated by the PD is transferred to floating diffusion (FD) through a transfer transistor and an amplification transistor outputs a pixel signal of a level according to the electric charge accumulated in the FD.
In a conventional solid-state image sensor, there is a case in which the light incident on the solid-state image sensor is reflected therein and flare and ghost occur by the reflected light imaged in an image. For example, the light reflected by an on-chip lens and a silicon surface of the pixel of each color is reflected by a seal glass surface and an infrared radiation cutoff filter surface to be incident again on the photoelectric converting unit and the flare occurs. Also, for example, red light reflected by the silicon surface of the red pixel and the on-chip lens surface is reflected by a multicoated surface of the infrared radiation cutoff filter to be incident again on the photoelectric converting unit and the ghost which looks like a red ball occurs.
In order to prevent such reflection of the light on the silicon surface to decrease the occurrence of the flare and ghost, a structure in which a fine uneven structure is periodically arranged, a so-called moth-eye structure is known. In the moth-eye structure, a refractive index gradually changes, so that reflectivity may be decreased.
For example, Patent Document 1 suggests the so-called moth-eye structure in which the fine uneven structure is formed on an interface on a side of a light receiving surface of a silicon layer in which the photodiode is formed as the structure of preventing the reflection of the incident light.
CITATION LIST Patent DocumentPatent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-33864
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the InventionWhen the above-described moth-eye structure is processed by dry etching, a deeper concave portion may be formed by setting long processing time. However, when the moth-eye structure in which the concave portion is deep is formed by such processing, it is worried that processing damage increases, for example, a dark characteristic is deteriorated. Furthermore, it is worried that a trouble such as a residue occurs in a post process due to increased unevenness by the moth-eye structure. Therefore, it is required to avoid such worry to further decrease the reflectivity.
The present disclosure is achieved in view of such a condition and an object thereof is to further decrease the reflectivity.
Solutions to ProblemsA solid-state imaging device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is provided with a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels, and an antireflection structure being the structure provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on the semiconductor substrate in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed.
A method of manufacturing a solid-state imaging device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a step of forming an antireflection structure being the structure provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed by performing processing of digging a light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate in a plurality of stages with different processing conditions.
An electronic device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is provided with a solid-state imaging device provided with a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels, and an antireflection structure being the structure provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on the semiconductor substrate in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, an antireflection structure being the structure in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed is provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels. In addition, the antireflection structure is formed by performing processing of digging a light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate in a plurality of stages with different processing conditions.
Effects of the InventionAccording to one aspect of the present disclosure, the reflectivity may be further decreased.
A mode for carrying out the present disclosure (hereinafter, referred to as an embodiment) is hereinafter described. Meanwhile, the description is given in the following order.
1. Schematic Configuration Example of Solid-State Imaging Device
2. Pixel Structure according to This Embodiment
3. Example of Application to Electronic Device
Hereinafter, a specific embodiment to which the present technology is applied is described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1. Schematic Configuration Example of Solid-State Imaging DeviceA solid-state imaging device 1 in
The pixel 2 includes a photodiode as a photoelectric conversion element and a plurality of pixel transistors. A plurality of pixel transistors is formed of four MOS transistors which are a transfer transistor, a selection transistor, a reset transistor, and an amplification transistor, for example.
The pixel 2 may also have a shared pixel structure. The pixel shared structure is formed of a plurality of photodiodes, a plurality of transfer transistors, one shared floating diffusion (floating diffusion region), and other shared pixel transistors one for each type. That is to say, the shared pixel is configured such that the photodiodes and the transfer transistors formed of a plurality of unit pixels share other pixel transistors one for each type.
The control circuit 8 receives an input clock and data giving a command of an operation mode and the like and outputs data of internal information and the like of the solid-state imaging device 1. That is to say, the control circuit 8 generates a clock signal and a control signal serving as a reference of operation of the vertical driving circuit 4, the column signal processing circuit 5, and the horizontal driving circuit 6 on the basis of a vertical synchronization signal, a horizontal synchronization signal, and a master clock. Then, the control circuit 8 outputs the generated clock signal and control signal to the vertical driving circuit 4, the column signal processing circuit 5, the horizontal driving circuit 6 and the like.
The vertical driving circuit 4 formed of a shift register, for example, selects pixel driving wiring 10, supplies a pulse for driving the pixel 2 to the selected pixel driving wiring 10, and drives the pixels 2 in a row unit. That is to say, the vertical driving circuit 4 sequentially selects to scan the pixels 2 in the pixel array unit 3 in a row unit in a vertical direction and supplies a pixel signal based on a signal charge generated according to a light receiving amount by a photoelectric converting unit of each pixel 2 to the column signal processing circuit 5 through a vertical signal line 9.
The column signal processing circuit 5 arranged for each column of the pixels 2 performs signal processing such as noise removal on the signals output from the pixels 2 of one column for each pixel column. For example, the column signal processing circuit 5 performs the signal processing such as correlated double sampling (CDS) for removing a fixed pattern noise peculiar to the pixel and AD conversion.
The horizontal driving circuit 6 formed of a shift register, for example, sequentially selects each of the column signal processing circuits 5 by sequentially outputting horizontal scanning pulses and outputs the pixel signal from each of the column signal processing circuits 5 to a horizontal signal line 11.
The output circuit 7 performs signal processing on the signals sequentially supplied from each of the column signal processing circuits 5 through the horizontal signal line 11 to output. There is a case in which the output circuit 7 merely buffers, for example, or a case in which this performs block level adjustment, column variation correction, and various types of digital signal processing. An input/output terminal 13 communicates signals with the outside.
The solid-state imaging device 1 formed in the above-described manner is a CMOS image sensor referred to as a column AD type in which the column signal processing circuit 5 which performs CDS processing and AD conversion processing is arranged for each pixel column.
The solid-state imaging device 1 also is a rear surface irradiation MOS solid-state imaging device on which light is incident from a rear surface side on a side opposite to a surface of the semiconductor substrate 12 on which the pixel transistor is formed.
2. Pixel Structure According to this EmbodimentAs illustrated in
The semiconductor substrate 21 is a silicon wafer obtained by thinly slicing a single crystal of high purity silicon, for example, on which photoelectric converting units 31-1 to 31-3 each of which converts the incident light to an electric charge by the photoelectric conversion to accumulate are formed for the pixels 2-1 to 2-3, respectively.
The antireflection film 22 has a stacked structure obtained by stacking a fixed charge film and an oxidized film, for example; a high-k insulating thin film obtained by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method may be used, for example. Specifically, hafnium oxide (HfO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), titanium oxide (TiO2), strontium titan oxide (STO) and the like may be used. In the example in
In addition, a light-shielding film 35 is formed in a region serving as a boundary between the pixels 2 on the antireflection film 22. A material which shields light may be used as a material of the light-shielding film 35; a single layered metal film of titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN), tungsten (W), aluminum (Al), tungsten nitride (WN) or the like is used, for example. Alternatively, a stacked film of such metal (for example, a stacked film of titanium and tungsten and a stacked film of titanium nitride and tungsten) may also be used as the light-shielding film 35.
The flattening film 23 formed by depositing an insulating material which transmits light, for example, flattens a surface. An organic material such as resin may be used, for example, as the material of the flattening film 23.
The color filter layer 24 is formed of filters 36 each of which transmits light of a predetermined color arranged for each pixel 2; the filters 36 which transmit the light of three primary colors (red, green, and blue) are arranged in a so-called Bayer array, for example. For example, as illustrated, a filter 36-1 which transmits red (R) light is arranged for the pixel 2-1, a filter 36-2 which transmits green (G) light is arranged for the pixel 2-2, and a filter 36-3 which transmits blue (B) light is arranged for the pixel 2-3. The color filter layer 24 is formed by spin coating of photosensitive resin containing pigments such as colorant and dye, for example.
The on-chip lens layer 25 is formed of on-chip lenses 37 each of which condenses light on the photoelectric converting unit 31 arranged for each pixel 2; as illustrated, on-chip lenses 37-1 to 37-3 are arranged for the pixels 2-1 to 2-3, respectively. The on-chip lens 37 is formed of a resin material such as styrene resin, acrylic resin, styrene-acrylic copolymer resin, or siloxane resin, for example.
The solid-state imaging device 1 is formed in this manner, and the light incident on the solid-state imaging device 1 from an upper side of
Hereinafter, a surface on a side from which the light is incident on the solid-state imaging device 1 (upper surface in
Next, the antireflection structure 41 is described with reference to
The antireflection structure 41 provided on the light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate 21 is configured such that a refractive index gradually changes by a structure in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed. In an example in
For example, as illustrated in
By configuring the antireflection structure 41 in this manner, the refractive index changes in two stages on the light incident surface, so that reflectivity on the light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate 21 may be decreased from that in the conventional antireflection structure 41′.
For example, the reflectivity on the light incident surface is described with reference to
In
A solid line in
As illustrated in
Therefore, it is possible to inhibit the reflection of the incident light incident on the semiconductor substrate 21 by the antireflection structure 41 capable of decreasing the reflectivity in this manner, so that it is possible to improve sensitivity of the pixel 2 to improve quality of the image taken by the solid-state imaging device 1.
The solid-state imaging device 1 is configured in this manner, and the antireflection structure 41 formed of a plurality of types of projections of the different heights may be manufactured by performing processing of digging the light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate 21 in a plurality of stages with different processing conditions.
Next, a method of manufacturing the solid-state imaging device 1 is described with reference to
First, as illustrated in an uppermost stage of
At a second step, a pattern corresponding to a region in which the projection 42 is formed is exposed and the resist 52 in a portion other than the region is removed as illustrated in a second stage from above of
At a third step, dry etching is performed with a predetermined ion amount set in a first processing condition, then the hard mask layer 51 is removed according to the pattern of the resist 52 and the rear surface of the semiconductor substrate 21 is processed. According to this, the rear surface of the semiconductor substrate 21 is dug and a concave portion having a V cross-sectional shape is formed according to a crystal structure of the semiconductor substrate 21 as illustrated in a third stage from above of
At a fourth step, the dry etching is performed with a second processing condition different from the first processing condition, for example, the second processing condition set to increase the ion amount than that in the first processing condition. In this manner, the fine uneven structure formed of the two types of projections 42 and 43 of the different heights is formed as illustrated in a fourth stage from above of
Next, as illustrated in an uppermost stage in
At a sixth step, as illustrated in a second stage from above of
At a seventh step, as illustrated in a third stage from above of
Then, at an eighth step, as illustrated in a fourth stage from above of
As described above, in the solid-state imaging device 1, it is possible to provide the antireflection structure 41 in which the two types of projections 42 and 43 of the different heights are formed by etching in two steps with different processing conditions.
At that time, in the solid-state imaging device 1, it is possible to prevent occurrence of a trouble (for example, deterioration in a dark characteristic and a residue) worried when long processing time is set, for example, described above. That is to say, the solid-state imaging device 1 may have a more excellent characteristic as compared to a configuration in which the concave portion of the fine uneven structure is formed deeply. That is to say, the solid-state imaging device 1 may decrease the reflectivity without forming the deep concave portion of the fine uneven structure.
According to this, the solid-state imaging device 1 may prevent occurrence of flare or ghost described above, for example, and may take a higher quality image.
Although the antireflection structure 41 is formed of the two types of projections 42 and 43 of the different heights in the above-described embodiment, this may also be formed of two or more types of projections of different heights. For example, it is possible to form the antireflection structure 41 of three or more types of projections of different heights.
An antireflection structure 41A illustrated in
By providing the three types of projections 42, 43, and 44 of the different heights in this manner, the antireflection structure 41A is configured such that the refractive index changes in three stages and the reflectivity may be further decreased.
Meanwhile, although the configuration in which the antireflection structure 41 is provided on the light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate 21 is described in this embodiment, the antireflection structure 41 may also be provided in a place other than the light incident surface as long as this is provided on a side from which the light is incident on the semiconductor substrate 21. For example, it is possible to provide the antireflection structure in which a plurality of projections of the different heights is formed on a surface of the flattening film 23 on a light incident surface side of the semiconductor substrate 21, a surface of the color filter layer 24, and a surface of the on-chip lens layer 25.
3. Example of Application to Electronic DeviceApplication of the technology of the present disclosure is not limited to that to the solid-state imaging device. That is to say, the technology of the present disclosure may be generally applied to electronic devices in which the solid-state imaging device is used in an image capturing unit (photoelectric converting unit) such as an imaging device such as a digital still camera and a video camera, a portable terminal device having an imaging function, and a copying machine in which the solid-state imaging device is used in the image reading unit. The solid-state imaging device may have a form formed as one chip or may have a modular form having the imaging function in which an imaging unit and a signal processor or an optical system are collectively packaged.
An imaging device 200 in
The optical unit 201 captures incident light (image light) from an object to form an image on an imaging surface of the solid-state imaging device 202. The solid-state imaging device 202 converts a light amount of the incident light the image of which is formed on the imaging surface thereof by the optical unit 201 to an electric signal in a pixel unit to output as a pixel signal. As the solid-state imaging device 202, the solid-state imaging device 1 in
The display unit 205 formed of a panel display device such as a liquid crystal panel and an organic electro luminescence (EL) panel, for example, displays a moving image or a still image taken by the solid-state imaging device 202. The recording unit 206 records the moving image or the still image taken by the solid-state imaging device 202 in a recording medium such as a hard disk and a semiconductor memory.
The operating unit 207 issues an operation command regarding various functions of the imaging device 200 under operation by a user. The power supply unit 208 appropriately supplies various power sources serving as operation power sources of the DSP circuit 203, the frame memory 204, the display unit 205, the recording unit 206, and the operating unit 207 to supply targets.
As described above, it is possible to prevent the reflection of the incident light by using the above-described solid-state imaging device 1 as the solid-state imaging device 202. Therefore, it is possible to improve the quality of the taken image also in the imaging device 200 such as the video camera and the digital still camera, and further a camera module for a mobile device such as a cellular phone.
Meanwhile, the present technology may also have the following configurations.
(1) A solid-state imaging device including:
a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels; and
an antireflection structure being the structure provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on the semiconductor substrate in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed.
(2) The solid-state imaging device according to (1) described above,
wherein the antireflection structure is formed by performing processing of digging a light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate in a plurality of stages with different processing conditions.
(3) The solid-state imaging device according to (1) or (2) described above,
wherein the antireflection structure is the structure in which a second projection lower than a first projection is formed between first projections of predetermined height.
(4) The solid-state imaging device according to (3) described above,
wherein the antireflection structure is formed by
forming a mask of a pattern corresponding to a site in which the first projection is provided on the light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate,
performing processing of digging the light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate with a first processing condition, and
performing processing of further digging the light incident surface with a second processing condition different from the first processing condition to leave the second projection.
(5) A method of manufacturing including a step of:
forming an antireflection structure being the structure provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed by performing processing of digging a light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate in a plurality of stages with different processing conditions.
(6) An electronic device including:
a solid-state imaging device including
a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric converting unit is formed for each of a plurality of pixels; and
an antireflection structure being the structure provided on a light incident surface side from which light is incident on the semiconductor substrate in which a plurality of types of projections of different heights is formed.
Meanwhile, this embodiment is not limited to the above-described embodiment and may be variously change without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
- 1 Solid-state imaging device
- 2 Pixel
- 3 Pixel array unit
- 12 Semiconductor substrate
- 21 Semiconductor substrate
- 22 Antireflection film
- 23 Flattening film
- 24 Color filter film
- 25 On-chip lens layer
- 31 Photoelectric converting unit
- 32 Hafnium oxide film
- 33 Aluminum oxide film
- 34 Silicon oxide film
- 35 Light-shielding film
- 36 Filter
- 37 On-chip lens
- 41 Antireflection structure
- 42 to 44 Projection
- 51 Hard mask layer
- 52 Resist
- 200 Imaging device
- 202 Solid-state imaging device
Claims
1.-6. (canceled)
7. A light detecting device comprising a plurality of pixels arranged in columns and rows, wherein each pixel includes:
- a photoelectric conversion region disposed in a semiconductor substrate; and
- a moth-eye structure on a surface of a light incident side of the semiconductor substrate and over the photoelectric conversion region, wherein the moth-eye structure includes: a first convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region; a second convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region; and a third convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region, wherein the first convex portion, the second convex portion, and the third convex portion have different heights respectively in a cross-sectional view.
8. The light detecting device of claim 7, wherein:
- the first convex portion is adjacent to the second convex portion, and
- a height of the first convex portion is larger than a height of the second convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
9. The light detecting device of claim 7, wherein:
- the second convex portion is adjacent to the third convex portion, and
- a height of the second convex portion is larger than a height of the third convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
10. The light detecting device of claim 7, wherein the second convex portion is disposed between the first convex portion and the third convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
11. The light detecting device of claim 7, further comprising an oxide film including aluminum, the oxide film being disposed on the moth-eye structure.
12. The light detecting device of claim 7, further comprising a flat portion disposed between the first convex portion and the second convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
13. The light detecting device of claim 7, further comprising a light shielding film disposed between adjacent pixels in the cross-sectional view.
14. The light detecting device of claim 7, wherein the light shielding film includes tungsten.
15. An electronic device comprising:
- a plurality of pixels arranged in columns and rows, wherein each pixel includes: a photoelectric conversion region disposed in a semiconductor substrate; and a moth-eye structure on a surface of a light incident side of the semiconductor substrate and over the photoelectric conversion region, wherein the moth-eye structure includes: a first convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region; a second convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region; and a third convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region, wherein the first convex portion, the second convex portion, and the third convex portion have different heights respectively in a cross-sectional view.
16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein:
- the first convex portion is adjacent to the second convex portion, and
- a height of the first convex portion is larger than a height of the second convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
17. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein:
- the second convex portion is adjacent to the third convex portion, and
- a height of the second convex portion is larger than a height of the third convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
18. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the second convex portion is disposed between the first convex portion and the third convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
19. A method comprising:
- forming a plurality of pixels arranged in columns and rows, wherein each pixel includes: a photoelectric conversion region disposed in a semiconductor substrate; and a moth-eye structure on a surface of a light incident side of the semiconductor substrate and over the photoelectric conversion region, wherein the moth-eye structure includes: a first convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region; a second convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region; and a third convex portion disposed over the first photoelectric conversion region, wherein the first convex portion, the second convex portion, and the third convex portion have different heights respectively in a cross-sectional view.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein:
- the first convex portion is adjacent to the second convex portion, and
- a height of the first convex portion is larger than a height of the second convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein:
- the second convex portion is adjacent to the third convex portion, and
- a height of the second convex portion is larger than a height of the third convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the second convex portion is disposed between the first convex portion and the third convex portion in the cross-sectional view.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 12, 2021
Publication Date: Jun 3, 2021
Patent Grant number: 11676984
Applicant: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION (Kanagawa)
Inventor: Naoyuki SATO (Kanagawa)
Application Number: 17/175,135